“Same defense from the very beginning, the facts,” McCarthy said. “Same defense from the very beginning, the phone call. And you don’t just have one phone call, you have both phone calls. It’s not somebody who heard from a friend. It’s the actual facts before you.”

The impeachment inquiry into the president began with a whistleblower complaint that alleged Trump urged the Ukrainian president to investigate Joe Biden, his Democratic rival in the 2020 presidential election, and Biden’s son, Hunter.

The president’s alleged request came after he withheld military aid from Ukraine.

Thursday was the final scheduled public hearing in the inquiry so far.

Highlights from @GOPLeader Kevin McCarthy's press conference. He railed against Dems for having malintent toward the President long before the #Ukraine Call. Made clear this is GOP messaging strategy -comments came before reporters had the chance to ask him questions @KGETnewspic.twitter.com/vUgQ5xWGT2